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Following the Blue Jays-Angels game on Tuesday, in which he hit the first grand slam of his big-league career, Anthony Gose and manager John Gibbons both spoke of how the fleet outfielder was attempting to change his batting mechanics, specifically eliminating his leg kick as he strides into the ball at the start of his swing.

The belief is the extra motion neither helps with his timing or his power, and may take away from both.

"It's extremely difficult," Mottola said. "It's something that we've been battling for years (Gose was traded to the Jays on July 29, 2010) on the easiest way to do it because for him it's such a random move. A lot of guys leg kick to increase power where his leg kick was just kind of there. It's something he's done his whole life and the times that we've been together, he's been wanting to play in the big leagues so long that it's been tough for me to say: 'You have to do this' but still go out and compete.' "

When a player is called up and basically is showcasing his talents, it's tough to switch from what he was doing to what he should be doing. In any transition there are going to be struggles and the Jays went ahead and told Gose that they support his effort to kick the kick and would not hold his struggles against him.

"It's been a fine line but we decided in talking to Gibby and (general manager) Alex (Anthopoulos) that you know what, try to do as much as you can in the game and him getting that permission from them kind of said OK, it's not such results oriented right now."

Some great hitters, Ichiro Suzuki for one, have had leg kicks their whole career and thrived.

"I've asked him for years: 'What is it,' " Mottola said of Gose's leg kick that didn't supply power or helped with his timing. "It's one of those things that he sees on film and agrees with me but he can't feel how random it is. A guy like Ichiro does it for timing and he stays athletic the whole way.

"For Anthony he became the most unathletic guy when he did that when he's the best athlete on the field. He understands it and it's a work in progress."

Few hitters stand at the plate flat-footed and don't take a step -- Paul Molitor was one -- so what is Mottola trying to do with Gose to get him going?

"We opened it up a little bit so he had somewhere to travel with it so he can say: 'OK, just go here' rather than say don't do anything."

EDDIE OVER AND OUT

Edwin Encarnacion was not in the Blue Jays lineup again Wednesday night due to a sprained left wrist, marking the third consecutive game that he has missed. Manager John Gibbons said that he is day-to-day, but also conceded that the Jays' top power hitter also could be gone for the season if the problem doesn't clear up.

"He feels better but not good enough to play," Gibbons said, noting the wrist has been an on-and-off issue all spring and that Encarnacion is not participating in any baseball-related drills. "Naw, it's too painful. We'll see where it goes but he's not ready today."

When asked if he could be gone for the season, Gibbons didn't argue the point. "It could very well if it doesn't progress," he said. "There's not a whole lot of time left (17 games)."

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Anthony Gose's kick a concern

Following the Blue Jays-Angels game on Tuesday, in which he hit the first grand slam of his big-league career, Anthony Gose and manager John Gibbons both spoke of how the fleet outfielder was attempting to change his batting mechanics, specifically eliminating his leg kick as he strides into the ball at the start of his swing.

The belief is the extra motion neither helps with his timing or his power, and may take away from both.